The Crows will go into Saturday night’s emotion-charged match against West Coast as named.
Young midfielder Cam Ellis-Yolmen will start as the Club’s substitute. Matt Crouch, Ricky Henderson and debutant Riley Knight will begin the match on the interchange bench.
On Friday, the Eagles withdrew Sam Butler from their selected side, replacing him with Mark Hutchings, who will wear the green vest.
On Thursday night, Adelaide named Knight to make his AFL debut Coast on Saturday night.
Knight, 20, was selected in the Crows team for last week’s scheduled game against Geelong, which was cancelled as a result of the tragic passing of Senior Coach Phil Walsh.
Adelaide named the same 25 players who were picked to tackle the Cats. Knight, and defenders Ricky Henderson and Jake Lever came into the team that last played against Brisbane Lions in Round 13. The trio replaced Rory Sloane (cheekbone), Kyle Cheney (back) and Jake Kelly (omitted). Brodie Martin, Jarryd Lyons and Rory Atkins are the emergencies.
A hard-running half-forward/wingman, Knight was recruited with pick No.46 in the 2013 National Draft. He missed the opening six weeks of this season because of an ankle injury, but has impressed in the SANFL since his return. Originally from Clare, the former Woodville-West Torrens junior finished joint runner-up in Adelaide’s SANFL Best and Fairest Award in his first season at the Club.
Knight will become the 204th player to represent the Adelaide Football Club, and the fifth to wear the No.39 behind Jonathon Ross, Linden Stevens, Martin Mattner and Will Young.
Adelaide and West Coast will unite to honour Walsh at Domain Stadium on Saturday night. Like last weekend, there will be no banners or club songs when the teams run out onto the ground. The players will wear black armbands and observe a minute’s silence prior to the match. Players and coaches will also link up around the centre circles after the game.
The game will be Crow Tom Lynch’s 50th AFL game and Sam Jacobs’ 100th match for the Club.
Read the AFL.com.au preview of the match
The AFL team is:
IN: Ricky Henderson, Riley Knight, Jake Lever
OUT: Kyle Cheney (back), Jake Kelly (omitted), Rory Sloane (cheekbone)
*These changes are from Adelaide’s last match against the Brisbane Lions in Round 13. Only a squad of 25 was released for the scheduled clash with Geelong
